Intelligent Earplug System

ABSTRACT

A system includes an earphone having an earplug, a processor, a wireless interface, a battery, a memory, and a speaker, and an electronic device separate from the earphone and in communication with the earphone via the wireless interface. The electronic device transmits audio to the earphone for storage in the memory. The processor of the earphone causes the speakers to play the audio stored in the memory in a loop. The electronic device and the processor of the earphone do not operate the wireless interface continuously after the audio is stored in the memory.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/348,400, filed Nov. 10, 2016, which is acontinuation-in-part of and claims priority to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/106,989, filed Jun. 21, 2016, which is a national phasefiling under 35 U.S.C. §371 of Patent Cooperation Treaty applicationPCT/US2015/017165, filed Feb. 23, 2015, which claims the benefit ofpriority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application, havingSer. No. 61/943,433, filed Feb. 23, 2014, entitled, “INTELLIGENT EARPLUGSYSTEM”, by Daniel Keewoong Lee, Dongyeup Daniel Synn, and DanielChesong Lee.

Application Ser. No. 15/348,400, filed Nov. 10, 2016 is also acontinuation of and claims priority to Patent Cooperation Treatyapplication PCT/US2015/052498, filed Sep. 25, 2015, which claims thebenefit of priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional PatentApplication, having Ser. No. 62/055,042, filed Sep. 25, 2014, entitled,“INTELLIGENT EARPLUG SYSTEM”, by Daniel Lee.

The applicant notes that the Daniel Lee inventor of the 62/055,042provisional application and corresponding PCT application is the DanielKeewoong Lee inventor of the 61/943,433 application and correspondingPCT and U.S. national phase applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present teachings disclose a method, apparatus, system and articleof manufacture for an earplug device that communicates with at least oneelectronic device. The present disclosure broadens the functionality ofa basic earplug into a “smart” earplug. “Smart” means the disclosedearplug device has advanced computing capabilities and connectivity. Thepresent teachings disclose a speaker, sensors, a wireless transmissionmodule, a battery, and a processor integrated into an earplug devicethat communicates wirelessly with at least one electronic device.

The present teachings describe how the user can go to sleep wearing theearplug device and still hear an alarm. Further, the alarm that awakensthe user is not audible to other people, thereby not disturbing others.The present teachings disclose how the alarm gradually increases involume, eventually reaching dB levels that will most likely awaken theuser. If the user does not wake up for a pre-determined time, theearplug device triggers an alarm from the at least one electronic deviceto ring as a backup measure. The earplug device also has at least onebiometric sensor, such as an accelerometer, that tracks motion of theuser at night. This allows for tracking of sleep cycles of the user andallows for a “smart wake up” function. The “smart wake up” function willprevent the alarm from sounding while the user is in rapid eye movement(“REM”) sleep to make it easier to wake up.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Earplugs are a common remedy for people trying to sleep in noisyenvironments but a major limitation is that a user cannot reliably wakeup to alarms. Several people have attempted to solve this problem butnone have brought the concept to market. This was because earlierearplug alarm clocks lacked in major features that could give it afavorable product market fit. For example, the hassle in having tocharge an earplug alarm clock every day is a major deterrent for regularusage.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, a system includes an earphone having anearplug, a processor, a wireless interface, a battery, a memory, and aspeaker, and an electronic device separate from the earphone and incommunication with the earphone via the wireless interface. Theelectronic device transmits audio to the earphone for storage in thememory. The processor of the earphone cause the speakers to play theaudio stored in the memory in a loop. The electronic device and theprocessor of the earphone do not operate the wireless interfacecontinuously after the audio is stored in the memory.

Implementations may include one or more of the following, in anycombination. A second earphone may include a second earplug, a secondprocessor, a second wireless interface, a second battery, a secondmemory, and a second speaker, and the electronic device and the firstand second processors of the two earphones may be configured toperiodically communicate over the first and second wireless interfacesto keep the audio output by the first and second speakers in sync. Theelectronic device may be configured to write an audio file to the memoryof the earphone over the wireless interface of the earphone. The memoryand the processor may be in a single microchip. The earplug may beshaped to fit into an ear canal, such that the speaker may be locatedmore deeply into the ear than may be the earplug. The speaker may bedetachable from the electronics base, allowing replacement of theearplug.

The processor of the earphone may receive notifications from theexternal electronic device, and cause the speaker to produce soundsbased on the notifications, and the electronic device may provide a userinterface allowing a user to specify which applications executing on theelectronic device shall provide notifications to the earphone. Theelectronic device may provide, to the earphone, GPS informationavailable to the electronic device, and the processor of the earphonemay cause the speaker to produce sounds based on the GPS information.The electronic device may provide a user interface allowing a user tospecify a set of contacts from a list of contacts known to theelectronic device, such that only calls from those contacts result incall notifications being sent to the earphone.

The processor of the earphone and the electronic device may communicateover the wireless interface at a rate lower than a rate used fortransmitting data, when data is not being transmitted, to maximizebattery life of the earphone. The processor may determine a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI) of a connection to the electronicdevice, and use the RSSI to track the location of the earphone. Theearphone may include a sensor, and when the earphone is located in auser's ear, the sensor may detect data indicative of the state of sleepof the user and provide that data to the processor, with the processorof the earphone configured to cause the speaker to provide sound to theuser based on the sensor data. The processor may cause the speaker toprovide a sound when the sensor data indicates that the user is in REMsleep. The sensor may include an accelerometer, and the determinationthat the user is in REM sleep may be based on head movement detected bythe accelerometer. The sensor may include one or more of a movementsensor, a temperature sensor, or a heart rate sensor.

In general, in one aspect, an earphone includes an earplug, a processor,a wireless interface, a battery, a memory, and a speaker. The processorreceives audio from an electronic device separate from the earphone andin communication with the earphone via the wireless interface, storesthe received audio in the memory, causes the speaker to play the audiostored in the memory in a loop, and does not operate the wirelessinterface continuously after the audio is stored in the memory.

Implementations may include one or more of the following, in anycombination. A second earphone separate from the first earphone and fromthe electronic device may include a second earplug, a second processor,a second wireless interface, a second battery, a second memory, and asecond speaker, and the first and second processors of the two earphonesmay periodically communicate with the electronic device separate fromthe earphones over the first and second wireless interfaces to keep theaudio output by the first and second speakers in sync. The processor mayallow the electronic device to write an audio file to the memory of theearphone over the wireless interface of the earphone. The memory and theprocessor may be in a single microchip. The earplug may be shaped to fitinto an ear canal, such that the speaker may be located more deeply intothe ear than may be the earplug. The speaker may be detachable from theelectronics base, allowing replacement of the earplug.

All examples and features mentioned above can be combined in anytechnically possible way. Other features and advantages will be apparentfrom the description and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be more readily understood byreference to the following figures, in which like reference numbers anddesignations indicate like elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an earplug apparatus, wherein a speaker, sensors, anda wireless transmission module communicate with at least one electronicdevice, according to one embodiment of the present teachings.

FIG. 2 illustrates a smart earplug system, according to one embodimentof the present teachings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that the earplug device may be used in a varietyof settings. The following list is not an exhaustive list but is meantto assist in understanding the earplug device. As an example, studentsin noisy college environments who have to wake up and not disturbroommates may wear the earplug device. Another example applies to publictransit commuters who take a nap and have to wake up when they approachtheir designated stop areas. Other examples are couples with a snoringpartner where the other partner has to wake up at a certain time; peoplewho desire to monitor their sleep; people who choose to use smarttechnology to optimize their sleep; people who have trouble sleeping anduse binaural/isochronic/monaural beats to help them fall asleep; peoplewho take a nap in quiet locations and not want to disturb others withtheir alarm, e.g., students studying at a library. The earplug devicemay also take advantage of additional technology available in thesmartphone platform. For example, the earplug device may use asmartphone's GPS to track when the user nears a location and to soundthe alarm accordingly.

The earplug device also implements the use of binaural beats by playingslightly different frequencies in each ear that causes a beat to beformed in the user's head. This causes “brain entrainment,” a processwhereby an operating frequency of a brain aligns itself with a binauralbeat formed. Lucid dreaming communities value binaural beats to helpthem achieve an appropriate state of mind. The lucid dreamingcommunities may find wearing the earplug device useful because it maytrigger a soft alarm during deep REM cycle; this is done so that theuser is notified inside of her dream that she is dreaming. Brainentrainment helps induce sleep. Brain entrainment may also be used withthe earplug device to stimulate other desired brain states, such asfocus and alertness. The earplug device may also utilize received signalstrength indicator (“RSSI”) proximity sensing to allow for tracking ofthe earplug device if misplaced. RSSI measures power present in areceived radio signal.

The present disclosure overcomes a myriad of limitations due to aninability to hear certain sounds, for example, an alarm, while wearingearplugs. The present disclosure has additional functionalities. Theembodiments set forth are offered to assist in understanding otherfunctionalities of the earplug device and do not represent an exhaustivelist. In one embodiment, the earplug device may set iOS applications tosend notifications other than alarm clocks. “iOS” is a mobile operatingsystem previously known as iPhone operating system. The user may choosefrom a list of contacts to have the earplug device send her anotification when certain people call. In one embodiment, the earplugdevice may connect to other devices, such as a baby monitor. The babymonitor may trigger the alarm to alert a mother to the needs of herbaby. In one embodiment, the earplug device includes an ear bonemicrophone for applications in allowing for easy to hear phone calls inloud environments. For example, a construction worker may use theearplug device in the loud environments. Noise reduction component ofthe earplugs may allow the user to hear conversations clearly as an earbone conduction component allows a voice of a user to come throughclearly. In one embodiment, the earplug device may stream music intospeakers, which may be set to play a preset playlist for apre-determined amount of time at night.

The present teachings disclose how users may enjoy benefits of noisemasking earplugs while utilizing functions enabled by a speaker andsensors. The present teachings describe how to make and use a hightechnology earplug device that is not currently available in the art.

Referring now generally to FIG. 1, one embodiment of an earplugapparatus 100 is disclosed. The earplug apparatus 100 generallycomprises a speaker 103, an earplug 105, an electronics base 107, acable 109, sensors 111, a wireless transmission module 113, a battery115, a processor 117, a replaceable foam earplug 119, an accelerometer121, and at least one electronic device 123.

Connecting the speaker 103 to the electronics base 107 with the cable109 may allow the speaker 103 to be easily detached from the electronicsbase 107. In one embodiment, the cable 109 may be a threaded cable. Easydetachment of the speaker 103 from the electronics base 107 is usefulbecause the earplug 105 may be easily replaced. When the speaker 103 isremoved from the electronics base 107, the earplug 105 can be slippedoff a wiring of the speaker 103, replaced with a new one, and then putback onto the electronics base 107.

The speaker 103 may be designed with a variety of differenttechnologies. In one embodiment, the earplug device may utilize apiezoelectric transducer, which is a device that converts electricalpulses to mechanical vibrations. In one embodiment, the earplug devicemay use a balanced armature, which is a sound transducer design thatincreases electrical efficiency. The piezoelectric sensor and/or thebalanced armature may be used to handle tight space constraints and tominimize energy consumption. In one embodiment, the speaker 103 may bedesigned by a variety of different technologies, such as, and is notlimited to, electromagnetics and thermo acoustics. In one embodiment,the speaker 103 may serve as a buzzer and may vibrate instead of producesound.

The speaker 103 is positioned as deep into an ear canal as possible tofurther minimize energy consumption. The cable 109 goes from the speaker103 through the earplug 105 and to the electronics base 107. This allowsfor replacement of an actual earplug component with the replaceable foamearplug 119 for hygienic purposes.

Standard foam earplugs for noise reduction are usually rolled up to fitinto the ear canal. In one embodiment, a custom foam (polyurethane)earplug 105 with a small axial hole where the cable 109 passes throughmay be used. The custom foam (polyurethane) earplug 105 minimizes noisethat goes through the earplug into the ear canal in order to achieve ahigher noise reduction rating (“NRR”). The NRR is a unit of measurementthat determines effectiveness of hearing protection devices to decreasesound exposure in an environment. A higher NRR indicates a greaterpotential for noise reduction. In another embodiment, silicone earplugsmay be used for greater durability.

The electronics base 107 is comprised of a housing. In one embodiment,the housing may be made of smooth plastic to resist the tendency of theearplug to catch on an edge and be pulled out of the ear. The housing isergonomically designed to distribute any load evenly over an outer ear.

The sensors 111, the wireless transmission module 113, the processor117, and the battery 115 are brought together on a central printedcircuit board which is placed inside the housing of the electronics base107. In one embodiment, the housing may have a threaded hole thatconnects to an axial jack through which the speaker 103 connects toelectronic components. In one embodiment, a speaker wiring may have acertain length so that it can traverse through a length of the earplug.

In one embodiment, the earplug device utilizes Bluetooth low energy(“BLE”) as the wireless transmission module 113 to minimize energyconsumption.

With the advent of BLE technology, there is a growing trend ofimaginative “smart” devices, enabling basic objects to have additionalfunctionality. BLE technology uses less power consumption within asimilar communication range. This means that while similar earplugdevice designs require nightly recharging, the user of this earplugdevice does not have to do so. A ping rate of a wireless signal shouldbe very low as to preserve energy because a one-second delay on thealarm is inconsequential to an alarm clock functionality. “Ping” is anacronym for Packet Internet or Inter-Network Groper. The ping rate is aresponse time for a system to speak to a server. The present teachingsdisclose that a lower ping rate is better than a higher ping rate as itentails significant energy savings.

In one embodiment, the battery 115 may be a traditional coin cellbattery because of the high internal resistance and low maximum currentvalues. Using the traditional coin cell battery takes advantage of BLE'slow current requirements, which allows for prolonged usage on a singlebattery.

The processor 117 may be integrated into a system-on-chip solutionpackage with the wireless transmission module 113. In one embodiment, asimple microcontroller may receive a signal from the wirelesstransmission module 113 and output a corresponding electrical signal.

In one embodiment, the sensors 111 for acquiring biometric data may bein the form of the accelerometer 121, a temperature sensor, or a photosensor. Movements of people, temperature, and heart rate varypredictably through different sleep phases. The sensors 111 correlatethe movement-temperature data to analyze and predict when the user is ina certain stage of sleep. This information would be used in a form of abio-clock, where users would be awakened in a pre-determined time framewhen they are in a lighter phase of sleep.

As indicated above, in one embodiment, the accelerometer 121 acts as oneof the sensors 111. The accelerometer 121 is a device that measuresacceleration. The accelerometer 121 tracks head movements during sleepto monitor REM cycles of the user and wake him up during a lighter phaseof sleep. People wake up feeling groggy if they awaken during REM sleep.Using the accelerometer 121 prevents waking the user up during his REMcycle.

The at least one electronic device 123 is any device with advancedcomputing and wireless connectivity capabilities, such as smartphones.

For RF devices that are intended to be disposed upon a human head ailnight, radiation exposure is a health concern, particularly for a devicethat will be playing audio for 8 or more hours a night. Referring now toFIG. 2, in one embodiment, a smart earplug device 200 is illustrated.The smart earplug device 200 is adapted such that it does not streamaudio continuously throughout the night, which would mean that the RFcommunications link 250 is connecting continuously at a fast rate.Instead, we upload sounds to the smart earplug device 200 onboard memory252 itself that are then looped throughout the night. By playing backstored audio flies instead of streaming them over Bluetooth constantly,we achieve ultra-low radiation exposure. Simultaneously, this brings theadded benefit of achieving much higher audio playback times, so smallerbatteries can be used, which in turn allows for smaller ear mounteddevices. In this configuration, users of the smart earplug device 200will be exposed to less Bluetooth radiation than a businessperson isexposed to in a single phone call when using a Bluetooth headset.

In one embodiment of the smart earplug device 200, an on-board memory252 that can be rewritten over-the-air through an RF link 250 (e.g.Bluetooth) by a paired controlling device 223 (e.g. smartphone) with newaudio files. The smart earplug device 200 has a processor or decoder 217that then pulls the audio file from the memory 252 and then plays it ona speaker 203. This audio file can be played and looped for the entirenight without having to constantly stream files over Bluetooth, and donein a very power-conserving fashion.

The use case scenario for our implementation of the smart earplug device200 is that the user selects an audio track that he/she wants to play ona smartphone and presses upload. The audio track is uploaded into theearplugs and then is looped continuously. The smartphone occasionallyreconnects with the earplugs (e.g. ˜1 reconnect per second) to maintaina connection to send over occasional information if necessary (e.g. async command to ensure the left and right earplug are time-matched. Inone variation, the smart earplug device 200 is instructed to turn offafter a certain time period.)

This is also beneficial because the memory size needed on the chipitself can be very small since the bulk of the audio files are stored onthe paired device (smartphone) and only the audio file being played atthe moment is taking up memory on the earplugs. This means only a verysmall amount of memory space is required on the earplugs. This is veryconvenient as the flash memory that is often manufactured onto the samechip as a microcontroller can be sufficiently large enough to store theactive audio file—meaning a separate flash module may not be needed,saving cost/space/complexity.

In one embodiment, the smart earplug device 200 is in the implementationof two components: one in-ear device with a small amount of flash memoryand a master controlling device (smartphone). The smartphone hasmultiple audio files to select from. The user chooses one of the shortaudio clips and uploads it onto the small amount of flash memory on thein-ear device. The in-ear device loops that sound all through the night, and is able to loop it through the night on a small battery becauseof the reduced power consumption of not having the power overhead ofmaintaining a constant Bluetooth connection. Also as a result of notconstantly streaming in a Bluetooth connection, the user is exposed tominimal Bluetooth radiation, less than what a businessman is exposed toduring a single phone call using a Bluetooth headset.

Although the disclosed embodiments have been described employing a smartearplug device 200, literally any wireless head-mounted device may beadapted using the principals and methods described herein to reduceradiation exposure to a user, which may also readily maintain a smallform factor.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present teachings maybe practiced with other system configurations, including hand-helddevices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PC's, minicomputers, mainframe computers,and the like. The present teachings may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

The computer described herein above may operate in a networkedenvironment using logical connections to one or more remote computers.These logical connections can be achieved using a communication devicethat is coupled to or be a part of the computer; the present teachingsare not limited to a particular type of communications device. Theremote computer may be another computer, a server, a router, a networkPC, a client, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described above relative to thecomputer. The logical connections include a local-area network (LAN) anda wide-area network (WAN). Such networking environments are commonplacein office networks, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and theInternet, which are all types of networks.

When used in a LAN-networking environment, the computer is connected tothe local network through a network interface or adapter, which is onetype of communications device. When used in a WAN-networkingenvironment, the computer typically includes a modem, a type ofcommunications device, or any other type of communications device forestablishing communications over the wide area network, such as theInternet.

The foregoing description illustrates exemplary implementations, andnovel features, of aspects of an earplug device that communicates withat least one electronic device. Alternative implementations aresuggested, but it is impractical to list all alternative implementationsof the present teachings. Therefore, the scope of the presenteddisclosure should be determined only by reference to the appendedclaims, and should not be limited by features illustrated in theforegoing description except insofar as such limitation is recited in anappended claim. While the above description has pointed out novelfeatures of the present disclosure as applied to various embodiments,the skilled person will understand that various omissions,substitutions, permutations, and changes in the form and details of thepresent teachings illustrated may be made without departing from thescope of the present teachings.

Each practical and novel combination of the elements and alternativesdescribed hereinabove, and each practical combination of equivalents tosuch elements, is contemplated as an embodiment of the presentteachings. Because many more element combinations are contemplated asembodiments of the present teachings than can reasonably be explicitlyenumerated herein, the scope of the present teachings is properlydefined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.All variations coming within the meaning and range of equivalency of thevarious claim elements are embraced within the scope of thecorresponding claim. Each claim set forth below is intended to encompassany apparatus or method that differs only insubstantially from theliteral language of such claim, as long as such apparatus or method isnot, in fact, an embodiment of the prior art. To this end, eachdescribed element in each claim should be construed as broadly aspossible, and moreover should be understood to encompass any equivalentto such element insofar as possible without also encompassing the priorart. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used ineither the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended tobe inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that additional modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the inventive concepts described herein,and, accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: an electronics basecomprising a housing containing a printed circuit board; a speaker; anearplug positioned between the electronics base and the speaker; and acable connecting the speaker to a jack on the printed circuit boardthrough a hole in the housing; wherein the cable is detachable from thejack, the cable passes through an axial hole in the earplug, and whenthe cable is detached from the jack, the earplug is removable from thecable, allowing replacement of the earplug.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the cable is threaded for coupling to the hole in the housing.3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the earplug comprises polyurethanefoam.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the earplug comprisessilicone.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a processorand battery coupled to the printed circuit board.
 6. An apparatuscomprising: an electronics base comprising a housing containing aprinted circuit board, with a processor and battery coupled to theprinted circuit board; a speaker; an earplug positioned between theelectronics base and the speaker, wherein the earplug comprises at leastone of polyurethane foam and silicone; and a cable connecting thespeaker to a jack on the printed circuit board through a hole in thehousing; wherein the cable is detachable from the jack, the cable isthreaded for coupling to the hole in the housing, the cable passesthrough an axial hole in the earplug, and when the cable is detachedfrom the jack, the earplug is removable from the cable, allowingreplacement of the earplug.